Basic Speech Communication courses which emphasize public speaking are an opportunity to teach critical thinking skills in the form of critical listening. Students can be taught to analyze the evidence or ideas of others and make critical judgments about the validity or quality of materials presented, using a series of steps involving student and teacher critiques of student speeches. Working with an evaluation form, students begin by analyzing their classmates' first assignment (informative speeches), listening for progressively smaller elements of this type of rhetorical act. A discussion of the speeches and the errors made is then led by the teacher. For the second speaking assignment (speaking with a visual aid), students are charged to make specific comments and suggestions during the critique period, as well as to fill out the evaluation form. With the third assignment (a persuasive speech), students listen specifically for a demonstration of need, the significance for the audience, use of appeals, the meeting of objections, and the action desired, and then must decide if the speech was persuasive. With their final speech, students must submit a formal critical analysis of a speech given by a classmate, to be delivered orally. This directed listening strategy ensures that students become aware of patterns of effective listening while receiving public speaking instruction as well. (Six references, and an appendix containing speech criteria and a copy of an evaluation form are included.) (JC)